REPORT FOR JAN 2016

Once again, as for the November game, we had 116 players, tying our record. The Ministry regained the crown for this event with a one-point victory over the Hotel squad. It was discovered that the Ministry was credited with one too many points on this round but it did not change the overall result. Cashew came in third in spite a harrowing 2 on Round 1. Overall, Round 1 concluded with a relatively weak 48% average. Fourteen teams knew about the “wishing spheres” of Singapore but 7 said Kuala Lumpur and for good reason if you Google the skyline there. I was surprised that only four teams got the essential feature of the meaning for the “minutes” of a meeting and these were 42, I'll Ask the Questions, Green Eggs and Ham and Boom Down. The other “distractors” were just made up. Most teams knew that the three films cited were in black and white although the strong media-oriented team, Gordie Brown, suggested Gene Hackman as he was in a bit part in one of the films. However, they redeemed themselves by being only one of four teams who knew that lobsters have 10 legs along with Boom Down, For the Record and the Otto Maass squad. Every team but one (a youthful group who said 66) knew that Bob Dylan is 75 years old.

Round two was better answered at 69% and the Ministry, Diviners, Cashew and the Spuds scored a near-perfect 9. Twenty one teams knew the question about Michael Caine but there were other answers including Mickey Rooney who was not born in the U.K. but did have Oscar nominations. Twenty-four teams knew the Chocolate Lab dog of my daughter although two teams suggested the Rhodesian Ridgeback. Investigation of that animal shows a general similarity but for the colour. Not a bad (although esoteric) guess. I was intrigued that all teams knew “MAD” magazine. That is some market penetration they have! Most everyone knew that James Taylor’s first wife was Carly Simon. Eleven teams knew Gainsborough painted “Blue Boy” and they were the Blondies, the Ministry, Cheap Dates, Space Cadets, 42, the Crusaders, Diviners, Cashew, the Hotel team, Bulldogs and Positive Vibrations. Not bad.

The third Round showed the usual average of 56%. Ten teams knew the list of Hungarians who worked on the atom bomb. The Diviners, Trivia Trailblazers, Boom Down, Our Drinking Team, the Bulldogs, Eli’s Angels, the Artifacts, Cadets and Positive Vibrations knew about the 1927 invention of the radiophone although many suggested a much earlier time. Many thought that Bobby Darin would have been older than 78 but several got it right including For the Record, the Dentrites, I’ll Ask the Questions, the Spuds, the Four Horsemen and the Gordie crowd. Seven teams did not know their poker hands, a topic that should be revisited.

Round 4 had a strong average of 66% with the Ministry scoring the only 10/10 of the night. Only 7 teams knew the name of the dart at the opposite end (flight) and these were the Trailblazers, Hacks, Bulldogs, Boom Down, Positive Vibrations, Four Horsemen and the Ministry. Quite a few teams did not know the platypus is a toxic animal and the topic of strange animals needs to be investigated for good questions. All but one team knew the protractor showing a good memory of bygone days in math class. This error was made by one of the most experienced teams. All but 4 teams knew 1939 as the year that Poland was invaded by Germany although they were not off by much. WW2 also needs to be visited for questions. Thank goodness only 6 teams knew the first rap song to be rated #1 by Billboard but I am showing my preferences. The “knowledgeable” groups were the Crusaders, the Cadets, Boom Down, Mighty Dentrites, the Ministry (? –they cover all knowledge) and of course the Gordie Brown Club.

In Round 5, the question about the only state with no representatives in the NBA was answered only by Cashew (Vermont). Many said Alaska but I was independently informed that there were at least two from that state by Andrew Biteen who clearly follows basketball. However, his team, Don’t Think Twice, selected Hawaii, a good choice. Most of the House seems to follow the “Hunger Games” and knew Coriolanis as Donald Sutherland’s show name. The Union Jack as part of the design of a U.S. state flag was known by about half the House who said Hawaii but other states were mentioned such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland and even Alabama! The statements from “The Seven Deadly Sins” were attributed to Ghandi only by Cheap Dates and the Cadets. Other answers were Mao, Lenin, Roosevelt, Churchill, Marx, Jefferson, Thatcher, the Dalai Lama, Stalin, JFK and Ronald Reagan! Ghandi needs more credit. The disability (deafness) suffered by Edison was known by several teams including In Vino, Eli’s Angels and Thistle Rocks. Every team but one knew Billy Joel. It wasn’t Barry Manilow! This was a relatively weak round with a 48% average. Cashew and the Hotel were the highest here with 7.

In Round 6 (lowest of the night with a 43%) only two teams got it that Donald Sutherland was born in New Brunswick (Eli’s Angels and the Blondes who were smiling mightily when the answer came up). My distractors for the origin of term “cop” were total and no team got it that it comes from the Latin capere (to capture). Many teams knew Cezanne as the artist whose work brought a price of $60M 17 years ago. I am afraid that the Vancouver-born Trevor Guthrie was too obscure except for the Gordie Brown team.

The last round showed a typical scoring average of 58% and eleven teams started by knowing the red flowers of the Rhododendron including the Spuds, I’ll Ask the Questions, the Dewey Decibels and Double Pair of Docs. Every team knew the Lautrec painting showed Absinthe although there were a few spelling errors (not counted wrong). Nine teams knew what the add-on shilling was (one) for creating a guinea including the Bulldogs, Positive Vibrations, Green Eggs, Thistle Rocks, the Trailblazers and the Hacks. Only 42, Eli’s Angels, Cashew and the Space Cadets knew Tiddlywinks where you can “squidge”. There was no lack of other games that were accused of such terms and included: bridge, croquet, marbles, cribbage, polo, canasta, dominoes, Parcheesi, quidditch (several times), darts, and billiards (desperate choice). Where was lawn bowling? Finally, Martin Scorsese was well-known as the Director of “New York, New York” and overall for the night the teams averaged the “normal” 56%.

It should be noted that 26 teams have played all three contests to date and the leaderboard is available just after the results from the January event on the 19th. Cashew leads by 4 followed by the Hotel Team then come The Ministry and the Blonde Artifacts. Take a look.

Thank you for playing and thanks to the scoring team of Cordelia, Jocelyn and Alexander for keeping the books as well as Kim Stephenson from our Bookstore for sorting the cash for the Centraide finances and contributing book prizes and helpful edits. Also thanks to our University Advancement and the Faculty Club for other prizes.

Please register for the March 16th event (Wednesday). It is already available.